The Great Scape

If you planted a hardneck garlic variety last fall, you might have started to notice weird curly tendril-like growths coming out of your plants. If you haven't already, you'll want to snip those off at some point. They are called garlic scapes, and will turn into a cluster of bulbils (mini garlic bulbs), and letting them grow will sap the garlic bulbs growing underground of energy and make them smaller up on harvest. The time to snip them is when they grow into a full circle, although some say you can pick them earlier. Last year, I picked mine when they first started coming out, and the plants sent out a second scape, which further sapped the bulbs of energy. So I waited until they were fully curled this year.

Scapes in the garlic patch.

One scape, freshly picked.

After you pick them off, not only will your hands smell like garlic all day if you neglected to wear gloves (as I did), but you might wonder what you should do with the scapes. Sure, you could compost them, but if you are growing garlic, chances are you're a garlic lover, and scapes are most definitely edible.

Several scapes ready for preparation.

I think of garlic scapes as a garlic version of green onions; they taste of mild garlic instead of onion, but have a fresh "green" flavor. They are good in almost any scenario that a green onion tastes good in, but they are unique and can be used in other sorts of recipes. I've cut them into 1/2" pieces and adding them to green salad, potato salad, and pasta salads. They are great in a stir fry. I've seen recipes for pesto and other sauces. Really, the only limit to using scapes is your imagination. So don't let them go to waste!


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Here are some up-to-date pictures of my garden. We had almost a straight month of rain, so my tomato plants are fairly stunted, as are the peppers and eggplants. One of my coworkers mentioned that her tomatoes were almost three feet high, because she kept them under row covers. Next year, next year. My hopes for this summer aren't dashed yet, though. The sun has come out for three days this week, and the weather forecasters seem a bit more optimistic of late. We've got plenty of summer left!

Here is the garden from the same perspective as previous pictures. It looks pretty good, despite the cool weather. Peppers, eggplants, tomatoes, and other warm-weather-loving crops could definitely be doing better, though.

Tomatoes - the big "ringer" plants are doing great (we've had a few cherry tomatoes off two of them already!). The smaller heirlooms which I started myself are doing variably well - some are large, but several are very tiny (my Green Grape is one inch tall, but somehow hanging in there) and about 8 plants died. Luckily, the "up for grabs" table in the cafeteria had some tomato seedlings on it this morning, plus a couple of Goldie husk cherry seedlings, of which I have one growing (you need two for pollination).

The potatoes LOVE rainy, cool weather. I need to get more compost to fill the cans to the top - they really took off while I was away for a week. So far I'm pleased with the cans, but these will be some expensive potatoes - my yields better justify the costs.

The beans are starting to tendril up the trellis. On the left side of the two A-frame trellises, you can see little cucumber plants - they need some sun, 'cause I want to make pickles!

Squash on the left side of the trellises, peppers in front. These plants are stunted too, but have grown almost visibly in the couple of sunny days we had this week. Soon they'll send up tendrils and climb.

This is my first year growing sweet potatoes. The slips were very tiny, and I think the rain has helped them get a good footing in the garden. They are starting to leaf out, and I imagine they'll start to run (vine out and take over) soon - I'd better set up another trellis! And there's Mr. Slug (or one of his myraid relatives) in the background, heading for a snack. I have quite a few slugs in my garden, but they don't do much harm. We also have plenty of catbirds and sparrows and starlings in the yard, and I think they do a good job keeping the slug population at bay.

The onions, shallots, and, of course, garlic are all doing well. Tomatillos and eggplants in the foreground could use a little more warm weather. Let's hope it's on its way.

I hope you're all having good luck in your gardens!!